How Do Nootropics Help You Focus?
Nootropics is just a fancy, scientific word for brain medicine, the kind of thing supposed to help you focus when the world is too loud. When used properly, they make the executive part of your brain—the guy who usually calls in sick or stares out the window all day—actually do his job.
They lock out the distractions and turn on the lights in the dark rooms of your head. And they fight off the exhaustion, too. They pump blood and oxygen up into your skull like a good, hard rain after a long drought.
But that’s not even the biggest magic trick.
They’re also supposed to chase away the modern ghosts—the stress, the anxiety, the everyday depressions that pile up on your chest like heavy, wet snow. They shovel all that sadness out of the way so you can actually get to work without tripping over your own feet.
It’s all connected, really. They say these pills give your mood a boost. They hand you a little extra motivation, making you feel good, or at least decent, about the simple, boring act of being alive and doing your chores on a random Tuesday. They make the day-to-day grind feel less like a punishment.
They take the ache out of thinking. You know that mental strain? The heavy lifting of the mind where you feel like you’re dragging rocks up a hill?
These things are supposed to turn those rocks into feathers. You work faster. You don’t quit so early. You just keep going.
When you get right down to it, there are really only two tribes of these brain pills. You’ve got your stimulants—the loud ones that kick the front door down and shout at you to wake up—and your pure cognitive enhancers, the quiet ones that just sneak in through the back window and rewire the house while you’re looking the other way.
Stimulants can be very effective at helping to increase sustained attention.
Some of these include:
- Adrafinil
- Modafinil
- Caffeine
- Deprenyl
- Adderall
Here are some of the many ways a nootropic can work to improve your brain health and function:
- increase circulation to the brain
- provide essential brain nutrients that are often missing in the average diet
- provide missing nutrients if you are a vegetarian
- provide precursors to important brain chemicals
- neutralize free radical damage to brain cells
- increase energy, oxygen or nutrient flow to the brain
- reduce brain inflammation
- protect the brain from toxins
- minimize the effects of brain aging
- stimulate the formation of healthy new brain cells
- increase neuroplasticity
- increase resilience to stress
Any substance that does not make your brain healthier does not fit the true definition of a nootropic. While stimulants are certainly effective in the short-term, none of these compounds should be used in the long term except maybe caffeine.
They are all prone to causing serious side effects and can sometimes diminish your overall brain reserves leading to lowered cognitive function over time. Even caffeine can become less effective with continuous use due to tolerance formation and should ideally be cycled.
If you are interested in using any of the drugs listed above, you should speak to a doctor to find out if you qualify. Never use a stimulant prescription drug without consulting a doctor first as you could end up with negative side effects such as addiction, tolerance, or withdrawal symptoms.
There are also some non-stimulant nootropics which have been noted for their ability to help improve focus and concentration. Many of these are also considered to be all-natural, coming from a plant or other sources.
Most Nootropics work by increasing or modulating levels of neurotransmitters that do not make up the catecholamines or adrenergic system of the brains.
Some of these neurotransmitters like acetylcholine can lengthen attention span, improve brain energy and even help to relieve stress and anxiety. All of these things can help to influence and improve concentration and sustained focus.
Examples of these include:
- DMAE
- Васора
- Tyrosine (NALT)
- Aniracetam
- Pramiracetam
- Noopept
- Centrophenoxine
- Sulbutiamine
- L-Theanine
- Galantamine
The ultimate question is which of these nootropics work the best for improving concentration.
Certainly, most of the stimulants would be considered more powerful, with higher potency. However, these drugs should not be used on an on-going basis and are best for occasional use only.
If you are looking for a good nootropic that you can use every day to help you focus more, we have found great success with Aniracetam, Pramiracetam and Noopept.
All three of these nootropics have few known side effects associated. Among these three, Pramiracetam has the best reputation as an intense concentration aid.
You should ideally be taking your Pramiracetam dosage with a choline supplement like Alpha GPC. Another option is to stack Pramiracetam with Alpha Brain which is an all-in-one nootropic stack that contains many of the supplements listed above.
